The Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Tampa Bay Rays are under scrutiny as the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) filed a grievance against them on February 23, 2018. The grievance called into question whether their use of revenue-sharing funds has been consistent with the teams’ collective bargaining agreement.
The collective bargaining agreement names its “principle objective” as “promot[ing] the growth of the Game and the industry on an individual Club and on an aggregate basis.” In doing so, the agreement requires that…Continue reading...

On February 7, 2018, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former player, Lazarius Pep Levingston. Levingston sued the team and its Director of Football Operations, Mike Greenburg, for negligence and fraud, alleging that the team concealed the extent of Levingston’s injures in order to give Levingston a smaller settlement. In August 2013, Levingston suffered a neck injury in a pre-season football game. The team informed Levingston that he had a “cervical strain/sprain, thoracic sprain/contusion, and shoulder contusion.” He…Continue reading...

Experts have suggested NFL players who kneel during the anthem are unlikely to be terminated. And so far, no players have been. A few weeks ago, President Trump suggested players who do kneel during the anthem should be terminated. Reactions to President Trump’s comments were varied and some time later, many players have continued to kneel or lock arms with other teammates in a showing of solidarity.
The reason the NFL or its teams have taken no action could be purely legal. Players are employees…Continue reading...

In June 2014, agent Igor Crespo sued his former client, NBA center Bismack Biyombo, for breach of their player-agent contract. The action, however, will now be limited pursuant to a recent order issued by Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the New York Supreme Court (New York’s trial court level) on September 4, 2015.
The initial complaint filed claims against Biyombo for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and tortious interference of contract. The damages are alleged at $2 million. In particular, Crespo claims that, under the…Continue reading...

On Tuesday September 8, 2015, a federal district judge denied a motion filed on behalf of the NFL Players’ Association, which attempted to reopen the long-running “Reggie White” case. Ending in 1993 with a settlement agreement, the Reggie White case was a class action antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. The settlement ultimately led to the league’s current unrestricted free agent system.
However, the CBA agreement arising from the White settlement was not renewed, and it expired in 2011. This subsequently led to a lockout of…Continue reading...

In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman, NFL Players Association lawyer Jeffrey Kessler argued that Tom Brady should have been fined, not suspended, as required by the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Furthermore, Kessler claimed that even if the suspension was in compliance with the CBA, it is still inappropriate because Brady was not given a notice of his suspension in advance.
Kessler’s letter is a response to a filing by the NFL arguing that courts have the authority to…Continue reading...

On August 30, 2012, the NFL and Riddell Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the multi-district concussion litigation against them, arguing that the suit is preempted by the collective bargaining agreements which exist between the league and the players. The concussion litigation accuses the league of deliberately and fraudulently concealing/ignoring the risk of multiple head concussion incurred during professional football, causing many former players to experience degenerative mental disorders and cognitive decline.
According to separate briefs filed by both parties, the Labor Management Relations Act…Continue reading...

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